I Guess You Can Say I'm Schizophren-Arc
by Fireballmonkey
Summary: The boy crawled out of hell and escaped the cold kingdom that housed it. Now, he's training to become a huntsman while searching for the men who put him there. (COD: Black Ops crossover-ish) Rated for language, little bit of gore, some sexual content.
1. Chapter 1: Head Injuries

_Vorkuta...Had to fight...Just to survive._

 _On my own...Almost a year._

 _Given up hope._

 _But Viktor Reznov found a way._

 ** _Viktor Reznov?_**

 ** _My friend._**

* * *

 _ **Vorkuta**_

"You will break, boy!" An older man, maybe in his late forties, straddled my torso and hit me in the face again. The ring of prisoners cheered and jeered as they watched. Fights were usually the only entertainment in this hell. I grabbed the man's collar, pulled him close and gave him a right hook across his jaw. I managed to push him off me as the guard came into the mine, nightstick at the ready.

He started yelling and raised the stick at me before the old man called out, "Hey - Svoloch!" It earned him a beating. Said beating ended soon as I grabbed a rock, pulled the guard off and brought the stone across his face.

I helped the man up. "Reznov." I regarded him. "Jaune! Well done." He went over to the guard, grabbing his weapon and the ring of iron keys. "Every journey begins with a single step." He told me.

"This is step one!" He raised the keys for all to see and the prisoners answered back to him, "SECURE THE KEYS!"

"Now, we take Vorkuta!" He shouted before we took off up the mineshaft, any guards were seized and taken out by our ever-growing mob.

* * *

"Jaune...Jaune?"

"Hmm?" I raised my head from my desk to see Glynda Goodwitch. I wasn't sure how she'd gotten into my room, but I was too tired to care. "Did you sleep here all night?" She asked. I shrugged. My nights kind of went by in a blur and usually consisted of me sleeping and waking up due to night terrors.

"Well, get ready soon. Today's your first day." She said before heading to my door.

"Of what?" I asked, groggy and confused.

"School." She answered before exiting and shutting the door. I sat there a moment, processing the less-than-twenty words she'd just said. "Shit." I cursed. I got up and went over to the small dresser, running a hand through my shaggy, blonde hair. It was almost long enough to touch my shoulders.

I put on a black jacket with tan fur on the inside and two orange stripes wrapped around each bicep. under that I had an orange shirt with a dark silhouette of an X, black jeans and dark brown knuckle gloves. Then I realized I hadn't showered yet and at that point I just debated going back to my bed and sleeping forever.

Nevertheless, I undressed, showered, redressed and headed out while plugging my headphones into my scroll and slipping them onto my head.

Before I left, I realized that I hadn't grabbed my dog-tags. They were given to prisoners and used as a form of identification.

I let the soothing sound of violin and piano riffs relax me, I closed my eyes and tried to forget about Beacon or Vorkuta or... Tyrian Karich.

The crazy bastard that dragged me to the darkest pit of hell and drilled into my mind, tried to break me. I swore to myself and all my brothers in Vorkuta that I'd find him and look in his eyes as I killed him.

 _Karich, Hazel, Watts...all must die._

My head started pounding as I leaned against the wall, pushing my headphones off and letting them hang around my neck.

" _Brothers...all of us...soldiers without a kingdom."_ I muttered. I shook my head and tried to calm my nerves. Now wasn't the time for another episode. I made it down to the locker room and found my- _you guessed it!_ -locker. I made sure my weapons were in good condition. They were, since the only things I had to do around here was practice, read or wander around the grounds.

My weapon of choice was a KS-23 pump action, 6.27 gauge shotgun that I'd had on me from the prison break. I'd made some improvements, however, so the metal was now colored white and the wood stock and pump was replaced with a yellow plastic/rubber material. The last feature was that It could now mecha-shift into a short sword that I'd named Crocea Mors. Along with that I'd crafted a metal shield that doubled as a sheathe.

Not knowing what to expect on my first day of school, I fished the Browning that I used as a sidearm out of my locker. I liked the handgun for it's reliability and relatively simple design. Although, I still had the AK-47 and _Makarov_ _PM_ from Vorkuta in my room. I sat horizontal on a metal bench and laid a dry oilcloth down.

Next, I removed the loaded magazine and the slide before I heard a noise. I looked up, scanning the room before returning to my maintenance. Then I heard it again.

Quickly, I reassembled my pistol and chambered the first round. I stood and raised the gun in the direction of the sound, but heard the shuffling of feet behind me. I spun on my heel and leveled the pistol at the door. "Who's there?" I called out. I heard it again, but they were slower. More defined.

"Prisoner 6362017, also known as Jaune Arc..."

 _No._

"It certainly has been a while, hasn't it Jaune-"

I turned to Tyrian Karich's smug, insane face and pulled the trigger. I saw the bullet hit his right eye before the flash was too bright and forced me to close my eyes. When I opened them, the body was gone.

No Tyrian, no corpse, no blood. "Well, that wasn't very nice. Why don't you put the gun down and we'll go back home, Jaune." I turned and saw him again. "No!" I yelled as I shot him twice in the chest. But the body just vanished again. I looked around for the psychopath. "I don't take orders from you!"

I saw him prance through a corridor to my left. I fired, but the bullet hit the wall. I backed up until I tripped over the bench, my finger slipping over the trigger and sending a bullet into the linoleum ceiling.

I fell and hit my head. When I opened my eyes, Tyrian was gone, my gun empty and on the floor. Although, I did hear more footsteps. The clicking of high heels, to be exact.

Glynda walked into my peripheral, something between concern and a glare present on her face. "What time is it?" I asked.

"Noon."

"I see." There was a beat of silence.

"Care to tell me why you're on the floor, Jaune?"

I hesitated. "Promise you won't get mad?"

"Of course I absolutely will _not_." She said sharply before hoisting me to my feet.

* * *

 _How many episodes does that make this month, Jaune?_ I thought to myself as I sat in the infirmary. Dr. Laura Kitsune-she'd made it clear that addressing her as a school nurse would earn someone several tetanus shots to the abdomen-kept tapping my knee with one of those tiny hammers.

I was dressed in a hospital gown that didn't even touch my knees, she claimed that the cloth had been repurposed for bandaging my head.

"Yep, your knees are still strong. Strong, hard, bone structure surrounded by tight muscle fibers..." Her eyes began to glaze over as Laura's gaze crept from my knee to...Northern regions.

On the sixth tap to the same knee, I cleared my throat. She startled out of her daze and stood upright. "You've got a clean bill of health, Jaune. Well, physically speaking. A phsyc-analysis is well above my pay grade." She leaned in and whispered to me, "Although, we could do something...off the record." Professor Ozpin, who'd been standing by the door the whole time, cleared his throat. "If we're all done here, Doctor, I'd like to speak to Jaune alone."

"Wouldn't we all." She muttered before turning and walking out, her fox tail swishing and sliding over my lap _slowly_.

I turned my attention to Ozpin as his gaze grew worried. "What?" I asked, "She's only, like, a year older than me."

"That's not what I wanted to talk about, Jaune. I wanted to know why there are several holes in my locker room-"

"Okay, first off, the one in the bathroom stall has been there since before I arrived."

Ozpin waited a second, "Are you finished?" He asked. "Hold on..." I said, "Shit, I had something about glory holes and schools."

"I wanted to know why there are several _bullet_ holes and why you somehow slipped on a floor that hasn't been waxed since the Great War." He snapped.

 _That makes one episode this month, Jaune. Congratulations, you've cut your usual rate in half._ I thought bitterly. "I saw him again. I saw Tyrian." I stared at the ground, hearing Ozpin sigh. "I figured as much."

"Then why'd you ask?" I started getting my clothes back on. "Your hallucinations haven't been this...consequential in a while. What do you want to do about it?" He questioned.

I shrugged. "What can I do? Hope it goes away and I don't get someone else killed?"

"There's always the medication-"

"I'm _not_ doing that." I said to him angrily. "I didn't come here to get doped up and thrown into a padded room."

"That's not what I was going to say."

"Then what is it, Ozpin? You wanna have the _General_ question me again?" Ozpin's face fell. I knew that that was a low blow, but I didn't care. He didn't get my situation. He didn't know what it was like in Russia. And yet...

He had gotten me to Beacon, kept a roof over my head and food in my stomach. And here I was throwing a hissy fit. I sighed and leaned back against the wall, sliding down until I sat with my knees against my chest. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright, Jaune. I can't imagine what you went through in the past. But despite all that, you escaped and made it out. You're stronger than you think. When Qrow and I found you in Atlas, we didn't believe what we heard. A lone boy escaping supposedly the most secure prison in the most secretive kingdom on Remnant, only to go back to be some kind of spy was...unfathomable."

I looked at the underside of my right forearm. There, in black characters, was my prison ID number. 6362017.

I managed a small, sad smile. "I didn't escape alone." I reminded him. I looked up to see Ozpin's hand stretched out to me. I took it and rose. "You should get ready. The new students will be arriving within the hour.

* * *

 **Hello readers!**

 **I got a new story here to kill time while I write my Far Cry and TES ones.**

 **Reviews are much appreciated as is checking out my other stories.**

 **Adios!**

 **-Fireballmonkey**


	2. Chapter 2: Tricky Memory and Explosives

_**CHAPTER 2**_

 _ **Vorkuta**_

"What is step two?!" Viktor Reznov asked as we headed to the mine elevator. "ASCEND FROM DARKNESS!"

More guards were trying to stop us, but we outnumbered them. One came at me with a club and I ducked under his swing before taking my knife and stabbing him in the chest.

"Three?!"

"RAIN FIRE!"

"Four?!"

"UNLEASH THE HORDE!"

"Five?!"

"SKEWER THE WINGED BEAST!"

"Six?!"

"WEILD A FIST OF IRON!"

"Seven?!"

"RAISE HELL!"

Reznov and I stopped when we ran into a giant, bald man holding one guard up by the throat with another in a choke hold. He squeezed their necks and released the limp bodies. "Jaune, allow me to introduce Sergei Kozin! The Monster of Magadan!" The beast of a man nodded and we followed the prisoners. "Glad you're a friend, Sergei." I regarded him.

We ran through the final tunnel, watching the wooden supports catch fire as the last of the guards were beaten, bludgeoned or stabbed to death. The elevator doors opened and we all piled in, a few armed with homemade knives, rocks or guards' cudgels. Sergei even wielded an enormous pickaxe.

One inmate next to Reznov seemed to be looking me over before asking him, "Are you sure we can trust this boy, Viktor? He is not Russian." Reznov put a hand on my shoulder and his.

"With my life," He said. "He and us, are not so different. We are all soldiers without an army. Betrayed. Forgotten. Abandoned. In Vorkuta, we are all brothers."

A moment later, the doors slid open and we saw a lone guard keeping a few prisoners back with a _Makarov PM_ sidearm. Sergei pushed his way forward and impaled the man through the back. I hurried and grabbed the pistol and looted any additional magazines from more dead guards.

Reznov found the control console and unlocked the doors to the courtyard where the Dust was brought over to the refineries. As the men started pushing open the heavy iron doors, I turned to my friend. "Reznov, your men must know this is suicide."

"Victory cannot be achieved without sacrifice, Jaune. We Russians know this better than anyone." We waited by the side of the door as it finally opened and sunlight flooded into the room. Inmates rushed out, only to be mowed down by machine-gun fire from a guard tower. We waited for the gunfire to move to a different target before we, along with Sergei, ran toward a minecart full of rubble.

As my comrades slowly pushed it across the yard, we kept low and I shot down any guards that tried to stop us. A group of prisoners to the right of us did the same and made it to the end first. "The tower's going to rip us to shreds!" Someone yelled.

I drew the tower's fire while they readied the slingshot I'd built. "Step three?" Viktor asked. "Rain fire!" I replied. Reznov turned to Sergei.

"See how Jaune's ingenuity turns junk into weapons..." Our comrades loaded the bomb into the sling-it was more just a can filled with scrap and uncut fire dust we'd managed to scrape together-and launched it toward the tower.

As the building burned down, a triumphant "URA!" Was shouted and we rushed one of the communications buildings. "Months of planning, Jaune." Reznov said, "We will not fall! We will not falter! We will be free-or die trying!"

The old Russian kicked open the door and had Sergei break into the arms lockers while I went upstairs to help with the uprising in the southern sector.

* * *

I sat on a concrete bench in Beacon's main courtyard as I watched the airship filled with my future classmates land at the docks.

My hand rested on the hilt of _Crocea Mors_ where it was sheathed on my left hip. My senses had grown finely tuned from growing up both on the streets of Vale and in a Russian prison, plus working in the jungle and deserts of Dreki. I'd tried to shake off my paranoia, but it had dug into my mind and stayed there like a bear in hibernation. That's what happens when you're looking over your shoulder for a bored inmate or a guard who's angry because he just found out his wife was screwing the town coffin maker.

Eventually, I just accepted it and let it act as a second shield. I could even allow my aura to slip around me and detect any disturbing presence.

The doors to the airship slid open and a variety of students walked out. One that I noticed right away was a petite white haired girl flanked by a valet with a luggage cart.

The suitcases on the cart had the famous(or infamous, depending on who you ask) Schnee Dust Company logo. I figured it must've been the daughter of the CEO, _Something_ Schnee. I didn't remember the first name. I could only hope that she was nothing like her  C-U-Next-Tuesday father, Jacques Schnee, or we would not be getting along.

The next was a pair of girls, one smaller than the other, also surveying the crowd of first years. The older, blonde one held her friend by the hood of her red cloak before being whisked away by a crowd of teens. The small, red child started spinning around in confusion, so I got up and went to stop her. Frankly, she was giving me motion sickness just by watching her.

Before I reached her, she fell backward into the Schnee's luggage. The white girl and owner of the luggage started yelling at her. The red one stood back up and their argument grew until the Schnee took out a vial of red Dust from a small box and shook it around. Did I mention the vial had a cork lid?

Well, it had a cork lid.

I knew how unstable that stuff was from personal experience, so I backed up before Little Red sneezed and the Dust exploded. It was quite the spectacle to watch, and it didn't seem like anyone was hurt. I saw the vial fly away and land at the feet of a black haired girl with a bow on her head. Like, sitting on top of her head.

Did she think she was being clever with that thing? It wasn't even tied down. I felt a tiny bit insulted that she thought she could trick me, but then remembered the number of possible reasons she was hiding her heritage. Especially when the white gremlin was ten feet away.

"You complete dolt! What are you even doing here" Aren't you a little young to be attending this academy?"

 _"Aren't you a little short to be here?"_ I thought. My eyes widened when Red and White turned to me. "I said that out loud, didn't I?" I muttered. Red managed a small "Yes," but was overshadowed by the gremlin getting in my face.

"And who are _you_ suppose to be?" She asked. I debated whether to answer honestly or sarcastically, but decided on both. "Someone who knows not use a cork lid on a Dust vial and wasn't born with a platinum spoon up my ass." I extended my hand to her, "What's your name, princess?"

"It's heiress, actually. Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company: One of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world." It was the black girl with the bow, holding a book in one hand and the red Dust in the other.

Weiss scoffed haughtily. "Finally, some recognition."

But Black wasn't done, "The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners."

I let out a small chuckle. This chick had noooooooo idea. Jacques Schnee was currently allied with Bobrov and Co. Mining Company, running one of the few/only Dust mines in Russia. Now, he could just send a bunch of faunus pseudo-slaves to get those resources, but there was already a prison only a mile away from the place, Vorkuta. So, around ten years ago, a generous donation was made to expand the prison and put the inmates to work as a way for them to contribute to society.

Weiss started stammering angrily before grabbing the dust bottle from Black and stamping off. "See you next Tuesday!" I called out to her with a wave.

"I promise I'll make this up to you!" Little Red yelled to Weiss. The girl sighed, "I guess I'm not the only one having a rough first day." She turned to Black, but the girl had already walked away.

She sighed in defeat before muttering, "Welcome to Beacon."

"Thanks..." I said, definitely not awkwardly. She stiffened and looked back up at me. I raised an eyebrow, "Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot you were there!"

"Gee. Thanks, Crater-Face." I replied flatly. Indirectly call a girl a cunt and the girl she was yelling at completely forgets you exist. Way to go, Jaune.

"Hey! That explosion was an accident!"

"Doesn't excuse bad manners."

"Didn't you say that girl had a spoon shoved up her...butt?"

"You can't prove that." I said. I started walking around the grounds and she followed.

* * *

 **Chapter 2.**

 **Thank you all for reading and following the story! I honestly didn't expect it to get much traction. I'll be starting a poll for pairings once I add a couple more** **chapters, but it shan't be long!**

 **As always, reviews are appreciated as it feeds my ego. Muahahahahahah!**

 **-Fireballmonkey**


	3. Chapter 3: Strange Girls and Candelabras

_**CHAPTER 3**_

 **Vorkuta**

Two men were ready on the roof of the comms building with the slingshot and more improvised explosives. As I started firing on the guard towers, barracks and gunners' stations, I could here Reznov on the PA system, addressing the entire prison.

"Brave comrades of Vorkuta, the time has come to rise against our oppressors! Today, we show them the hearts of true Russians! We have all given up blood for the motherland. We have answered her calls without question. We gave our youth, our heart, our very souls for her protection..." Step four was done. All the prisoners would answer Reznov's signal and fight for their freedom. This was the fruit of their labor and planning. It was all going according to plan.

Once the last tower fell, we made it downstairs to see a pile of shotguns from the weapons vault. We all armed ourselves and headed north to the main armory.

* * *

"Sooooo...I got this thing." The red girl I'd been hanging out with, Ruby Rose, proceeded to pull out a giant-ass scythe. "Woah! How the hell do you lift that thing?" I asked, not at all jealous of the _GIANT-ASS SCYTHE_.

"My uncle trained me since I was twelve. He's a teacher at Signal and sorta took me under his wing. So, I showed you mine..."

I nodded and took out my pistol. "It's a 45. caliber Browning High power." Before I knew it, she'd swiped it out of my hands and inspect every inch of the gun. I hadn't seen someone so excited about weaponry since I met that coked-up 'scientist' in Vale. What was his name? Kreiger? Yeah, that's it.

"Wow! I've never seen a gun like this. The design is so simple but effective, and the weights perfectly balanced! Where'd you find a gun like this?" She asked excitedly.

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you." I said, wiggling my fingers in front of her face in a magician-y sort of way. She giggled. She handed it back to me and I showed her both pieces _Crocea Mors_.

"The shield collapses into a sheathe so I don't have to lug it around all day, and..." I hit a button on the sword's guard and it changed into it's shotgun form. She gawked at the gun for a full second before I had to lift it out of her reach. "Oh, come on, Jaune! You gotta let me see it!"

"You can see it just fine from here. I've been through a lot with this thing. It's like my best friend..." I stopped myself. That was so lame! She must be creeped out, now.

"Oh." She said, understandingly. I waited a beat. "That's it?" I asked, "You're not weirded out by the words that just exited my mouth?"

"No, I get it. It's like how I am with my Crescent Rose." She said, stroking her weapon. "Huh." I sounded.

* * *

We walked into the grand auditorium and looked over the vast sea of seventeen+ year olds. I saw Ruby's blonde friend from earlier waving to her and nudged her with my elbow. She saw her friend and started dragging me along by my elbow. "Come meet my sister." She said.

" _That's_ your sister?" I asked, more confused. "I don't see it."

"Yeah, we get that a lot."

Once we were within talking distance, the blonde, Yang, asked Ruby, "So, how's you're first day going, little sister?"

"You mean since you ditched me and I exploded?" Ruby snapped.

"Yikes, melt down on the first day?" Her sister questioned.

"No, I literally exploded a hole in front of the school. There was fire and I think some ice..."

I chimed in, "I can vouch for that. It was awesome."

"And then I tripped over some crabby girls luggage and then she yelled at me and then I exploded and then she yelled some more and I just wanted her to stop yelling at me!"

"You!" Ruby yelped and jumped into Yang's arms. I turned to see Weiss glaring at us. "You're lucky you didn't blow us off the side of the cliff."

"Oh my god, you really exploded." Yang realized. "It was an accident!" Ruby said, jumping to her feet.

I interrupted, "Look, I think we've all just had a long first day, what with you two exploding and all, but how about we all agree to just put it behind us."

"Yeah! You should start over and try to be friends." Yang agreed. Ruby also agreed and extended a hand towards the heiress. I would've advised against the move, but I was having too much fun watching this powder keg. I considered taking bets from the students around me on who would kill each other first.

I could only imagine what would happen if the girls all ended up on the same team. The thought sent a shiver up my spine. Not the good kind, either.

"Yeah! And we can paint our nails, and talk about cute boys like tall blonde and scraggly over here." Weiss snarked. "At least my hair color's natural." I muttered.

"Wow, really?" Ruby asked.

" _No_."

That's when Ozpin arrived on stage along with Glynda and gave a rousing speech about how we were wasting our energy and needed direction. While I would usually disagree and make a sarcastic remark right about now, I looked around the room and...well, yeah. I could see it.

After that, Goodwitch told us to head to the ballroom and that our initiation would be in the morning. I hated mornings. And alligators. And the cold, harsh winters of Russia. And the jungle. But mostly alligators.

* * *

I walked out of the bathroom in a grey shirt and black pajama pants, heading over to my spot on the ballroom floor. Apparently, Ozpin thought it would be a good idea for me to sleep in the same room as all the other students after having my own room for the past three months. Super.

I picked a spot in the corner, limiting the number of ways for any to approach, and sat down on my sleeping bag. I slid my _Makarov_ under my pillow and laid down on my side, facing the rest of the room.

"Wait! What are you doing?"

"Helloooo~"

I heard a commotion going on to my right and sat up to see Ruby and Yang approach the black-haired, incognito-faunus girl from earlier where she sat reading by candlelight. This should be good.

I observed as the sisters tried to have a conversation, much to Black's chagrin. I heard her say her name was Blake. She tried to hint that she wanted to read alone, but those hints were not landing.

They started talking about Blake's book and Ruby said, "They're one of the reasons I want to be a huntress."

"And why is that? Hoping we'll all live happily ever after?" Blake asked.

"I'm hoping we all will. As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books; someone who fought for what was right and protected those who couldn't protect themselves."

"I see. Well, that's very ambitious for a child. Unfortunately, the world isn't the same as a fairy tale."

I snickered. If they only knew. I mean, sure, the world looks shiny and nice on the surface, despite the flesh eating monsters. Kingdoms look happy and secure, safe from all evil. But sooner or later it all ends the same: You're in the trunk of a taxi on your way to the nearest dock or airport, your belly full of diamonds and vodka, praying your driver doesn't rat you out to the Reds at the last checkpoint. Because then, the last thing you here, besides a pistol cocking behind your head, is Ivan's laugh and...

...They were staring at me. "What?" I asked.

"What's so funny, Jaune?" Ruby questioned. Before I could say anything, Weiss Schnee stomped over.

"What in the world is going on around here?! Do you people not realize that some of us are trying to sleep?" She yelled, probably waking up more students. She and Yang yelled, "Oh, not you again!" At the same time before Ruby tried to quiet them down.

Blake and I shared a look and I gestured to her mini candelabra. She nodded and blew the flame out, plunging the room into darkness.

* * *

 **I've opened the pairing poll for this story, so go vote!**

 _ **(I'm secretly hoping for Darkos!)**_

 **-Fireballmonkey**


	4. Chapter 4: Local Man Interrupted

_**CHAPTER 4**_

 **Vorkuta**

"How do we achieve step five?" An inmate asked.

"Jaune's weapon will soon be ready!" Reznov replied. "Savor your vengeance, friends! We will burn this hellhole to the ground!" As we pushed onwards, we managed to get better weapons from killed guards; AK47's, a few semiautomatics, even grenade launchers.

By the time the helicopter got to us, I had the shotgun slung over my shoulder, an AK in my hands and a knapsack holding extra munitions and the handgun.

"The chopper has arrived! Good!" Reznov exclaimed.

"How is this good?"

"Because it is as we wish!"

"Step five!" I yelled, "Skewer the winged beast!"

I booked it to another building and went to the roof where I saw two inmates, dead, and the harpoon I made with some help from my fellow criminals. I grabbed it and made sure the rope was secured to the exhaust pipes on the roof before firing at the helicopter.

The spear penetrated the hull and the rope went taught as the chopper was dragged toward a set off power lines and went up in flames. It crashed into the armory building and blew out one of the walls, giving us a perfect way in.

More cries of "URA!" Were given as we stormed the complex. I swapped my AK47 for one with a GP25 grenade launcher attached under the barrel and went to work, pushing up the main hallway to the stairs.

"They're trying to lock down the armory!" I told Viktor.

"Stop them!"

I fired a grenade behind a barricade and ran ahead to see the blast doors to the armory going down and red lights flashing.

Out of nowhere, Sergei got under the doors and held them open long enough for me to slide underneath. I didn't look back until I'd entered the control room and opened the door back up. But it was too late. Sergei's body had been crushed, almost chopped in half. A fresh wave of anger ran through me as the inmates, Reznov and I killed the remaining guards and found the door to the weapons vault sealed.

Luckily, we'd planned for this and headed across an elevated hallway to a small garage. Reznov grabbed a large blow torch and we retreat back as the garage door was blown off it's hinges and men dressed in riot gear and ballistic armor came in. We managed to keep them back with the shotguns and grenades.

As Reznov got to work on the door, we held a new wave of guards and riot troops back. We lost good men in the fight. But it was worth it when we got the door open and found our iron fist: A fully loaded, belt-fed XM-336 Mini-Gun with six barrels and a firing rate of twenty rounds per second.

No wonder the guards kept Grimm away so well. Then again, it also helped that Grimm were scarce in Russia due to the harsh terrain and ever growing military state.

I slung my rifle and hoisted the Mini-Gun up. It was heavy, but my body had grown strong in my time within these walls. The gun ripped through the guards' bodies like paper. We all savored this payback against the oppressive, sadistic sons of bitches who tormented us day-in and day-out as we charged out of the back exit to the armory and pushed further north to the main gates.

That all changed when silver canisters were thrown in our path and thick smoke erupted out of them. The gas consumed the area and left us choking for air, my vision started fogging up and my eyes felt like they were on fire. I could barely register Reznov shout, "They are using Tear Gas! JAUNE!" Before I passed out.

* * *

Waking up was always a drag for me. Ever since I'd gotten back to Vale, my nightmares kept me restless.

However, I relished the hot showers here at Beacon like they were the waters of Babylon. The water flowed over my body and helped me relax, I let my head hang down and saw the scars on my torso, arms and legs. There wasn't a huge amount, but enough to tell that I'd been through some shit.

I was just glad I didn't see the ones on my back. I could still remember the white-hot pain of the lashings from which they'd originated.

After, I got dressed in a black hoodie, dark jeans and my gloves before donning the little armor I had. I'd swindled a set of elbow and knee plates from my mercifully short time in Atlas from some military specialist. Along with that was something a lot more...sentimental.

It was a lightweight metal cuirass that covered my chest, shoulders and back. It had a dark grey color with lighter, intricate patterns on the sides. It also had a dark blue waist sash along with a grey belt that had the head of a wolf on it.

One of my closer prison-friends, Skjor, had used it as one of the few Russian huntsman. He'd given me a letter to his family that I'd promised to deliver.

I did. Unfortunately, his wife and son had remarried, moved on, the whole deal. However, his family had been extremely grateful and gave me the armor piece as a thank-you. Apparently, they hadn't seen or heard from him in almost thirty years.

Once my armor was all in place, I decided what weapons to take. The thing was, I really didn't know what to expect. I knew what types of Grimm were out there, but didn't have much experience in fighting them. So, naturally, I took everything. _Crocea Mors_ , my Browning on my right hip, and the AK47 with grenade launcher slung over my shoulder.

Once suited up, I donned my hood and put my hands in my pockets and walked through the locker room. I saw Ruby and Yang arguing about something, but chose not to get involved.

I also noticed one of the maintenance staff plastering the walls I'd shot up during my little mental breakdown yesterday. In fact, I was so busy looking at it that I failed to notice the wet floor sign until it was too late.

I laid on the damp floor, my head pounding and my chest feeling like it was being crushed in a hydraulic press. I caught my breath and got back up, ignoring the looks from around the room I was receiving. I saw Weiss scoff at me before she started talking to a fiery-looking redhead. I shook my head and continued onward until someone tapped my shoulder. I turned to see the redhead with a concerned look on her face.

"Are you alright?" I asked. She looked surprised, but recovered and said, "I think I should be asking you that. That fall looked quite painful."

"Oh, that, right. I'm fine. It's not the first time I've hit my head." I answered before holding out my hand, "Jaune."

"Hello, Jaune. I'm Pyrrha Nikos." She seemed...happier. Like the fact that I didn't know her got her off. Alright, maybe that was being dramatic, but still. It was a bit creepy. "So...heard any rumors about this initiation?" I asked, a bit awkward. "Well, I believe this is how they'll determine the makeup of teams." She replied.

"Well, who knows? Maybe we'll end up kicking' ass and taking names together." I commented. That was when Weiss interrupt. Again.

"Excuse me, Jaune, was it? Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"

"Yeah, duh, she just told me her name." I said.

"This is Pyrrha."

"Hello again!"

"Pyrrha graduated top of her class at Sanctum."

"Never heard of it." I stated.

"Ugh, she won the Mistral Regional Tournament four years in a row. A new record."

"Oh, wow, that...sure sounds impressive, whatever it is." Weiss started flapping her arms and yelling, "She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Cereal box!"

"Alright, that actually rings a bell."

"Ugh, you're hopeless!"

"Well, you know what they say. The hopeless ones make the best teammates." I responded.

"That's _not_ a saying." She said flatly. "So, after hearing all that, do you really think you're in a position to ask her to be on your team?"

"Do you?" I asked defiantly, "I don't know who you think you are, Schnee, but don't think you can go around shitting on people and get away with it." On that note, I walked off.

I heard the PA system go off, telling the students to report to the cliffs. It was time for those Grimm to see what Jaune Arc's got in store.


	5. Chapter 5: Leap of Faith (Literally)

**Chapter 5**

 _They used tear gas..._

 _I Couldn't breath..._

 ** _Was Reznov still with you?_**

 _...He never left me._

* * *

 **Vorkuta**

When I woke up, I was in some warehouse. I could still here the sound of gunfire and fighting outside. "The door will not hold them forever, Jaune. We do not have much time." Viktor was to my right near a large...thing covered by a tarp. I got up and heard the train whistle. He was right. Behind us, someone began shooting at the large steel doors.

"Within this shrine to the hypocritical decadence of Vorkuta's leaders lays the key to step eight." He removed the tarp to reveal a motorcycle. He gestured to my left and I saw another. Both faced large ramps leading out the open windows, outside the prison.

"Freedom." I finished. We started the bikes up and burst through the opening. Once outside, we followed the train across a bridge, more guards firing at us while getting into trucks and even another helicopter.

As we passed the first bridge, we rode through the hills with men in pursuit. "They're not letting us go without a fight!" I called out.

Other guards on motorcycles followed us, so I took out my pistol and shot them down, avoiding the falling bikes.

Suddenly, a pickup truck with a 50. caliber machine-gun welded to the back pulled ahead of us. As it started to fire, I shot the gunner and Reznov and I highjacked the truck. I jumped into the truck-bed and chambered a fresh round in the MG while Viktor pulled the driver out and took his place.

My first target was the chopper that was nearly straight above us. I let loose a volley of bullets until something ignited and the vehicle went down in flames, intercepting a truck full of army troopers. I hadn't expected the army to react so fast. It didn't matter now.

I shot a few more motorcyclists and guard trucks before the road ran parallel to the train tracks, but only for a short distance. "Jump, Jaune! Jump."

I steadied myself on the back of the truck before I did it. I leapt through the air and dove towards one of the ladders on the side of the train car. Once I had a good hold on it, I turned back to my friend in the truck. I could see more army vehicles forming a roadblock ahead, and a military jeep gaining on him. "Your turn! Come on! Step eight, Reznov, freedom!"

"For you, Jaune, not for me!" He answered before swerving into the army blockade.

"REZNOV!"

* * *

 _Record scratch, freeze frame, stop everything._

Yep, that's me. Jaune Arc. Former Russian prisoner, adept in all skills _á la_ street rat, CIA consultant, current initiate at Beacon Academy. Oh, also falling through the sky faster than a gut-shot Nevermore. I bet you're wondering how I found myself in this predicament.

A little thing about Ozpin that no one warned me about: He's a sadistic possible-sociopath.

What kind of school principal launches his students into a forest filled with evil monsters like skeet discs? Thankfully, the weight of my gear seemed to keep me from going too high.

So, how about we weigh the pros and cons.

Pro: I only had about ten seconds until I ended up eating the dirt.

Con: I was gonna die.

Pro: I'd die a lot quicker since there was a spear heading for me-wait what?

Before I new it, a red and gold blur knocked me off course and stuck me in a tree. I hung there for a minute before looking up to see the spear impaled through my hood like a BBQ spit. I managed to pull it out, but fell about twenty feet to the forest floor.

" _Blyad!_ " I yelled.

If it wasn't for my aura, I'd definitely be a dead man. I groaned and sat up, rolling my shoulders and my neck around.

Getting to my feet, I grabbed the spear and surveyed the surrounding undergrowth. I made sure my stuff was all okay before I heard a rustling in the bush. I readied the spear, but there was no need as it turned out to be Pyrrha.

Judging by her color theme, I gathered that the spear was hers. Jaune Arc: Master of Deduction. "Hey, Pyrrha."

"Hello, Jaune."

"Judging by the fact that we're making I contact, we're partners now."

"It would appear so." I gave her back her spear and we headed North to find some relics.

I unslung my rifle and threw the bolt, chambering the first round. We walked for a while in wary silence, not wanting to draw attention. After a few minutes, we heard shots being fired ahead of us. I also smelled smoke. "We should probably check that out." I suggested, "I just hope we don't run into Silver-Spoon." I muttered.

"Who?" Pyrrha asked.

"The Schnee girl. Short, angry, probably racist, would like nothing more than to stab me in the kidney?" I explained. She seemed confused as she asked, "What do you have against Weiss?"

"Well, an top of her being an uptight B-hole, pardon my language, she thinks she's above people because Daddy could burn down an orphanage and people would still lick his boot."

"You seem to have a very...one-sided opinion about the Schnees."

"It's a long story. A long, cold, racist story." I said. She left it alone, thankfully, and we continued onward until we reached a clearing that was on fire and aswarm with burning beowolves. Pyrrha took aim at one, but I angled the barrel of her spear-rifle down towards the ground. "Waste of bullets." I explained. While that was part of the reason, I also felt no remorse for these creatures.

I wanted to watch them burn and whimper and die like the savage dogs they were. They were too weak, even to stand. Oh god, maybe Vorkuta messed me up more than I thought. I shook the thoughts out of my head.

We made our way around the fire and soon found a large set of boulders. I turned to my new partner, "Cover my six?" I asked. She nodded and I climbed up the rocks to get a better vantage point.

* * *

As Jaune climbed the boulders, I kept watch for any Grimm or other students. However, my mind kept going back to the flaming clearing, and how Jaune had stopped me from killing the Beowolves.

While saving munitions was always a good thing, we could've ended the beasts with one shot each since they couldn't do much in the way of fighting. But Jaune had just watched them. He didn't seem like the sadistic type, and his...distaste of the Schnee Company would also contradict that idea. Still...

I yelped when I heard a thud and saw that Jaune had jumped down next to me.

"Well, the temple's only about a kilometer northeast of us, but there's a lot of open ground and some sketchy looking caves a bit westward of here. My vote: Stick to the tree-line and avoid conflict. We can slip through pretty...easily...: He trailed off and moved to one side of the boulders. I saw his face drain of color as he turned, slung his rifle on his back and grabbed my hand.

"RUN!"

We took off north as we heard a large amount of rumbling behind us.

* * *

Pyrrha and I raced through the open ground I'd advised against just moments ago. With good reason, however, as there was a tank-sized scorpion from hell chasing us.

It gave a loud screech and I increased my pace as fast as I could. I vaguely remembered the thing being called a deathstalker. Once Pyrrha stopped and fired a couple rounds at it, I joined her and shot a grenade at the beast's face.

We resumed our retreat, and I could see the clearing along with a few other kids. At this rate, we were gonna get trampled by this thing, so I needed to do this fast.

Digging my feet into the ground, I did a 180 and charged toward the deathstalker, swapping my rifle for my shield and pistol. I heard Pyrrha yell my name, but I just shouted for her to keep going. I raised my shield and fired at the grimm's red eyes, irritating it, but doing no real damage.

My plan came to fruition when I was an arm's length away from the scorpion and it swung an SUV sized claw at me. I didn't know if this would work, but in the end, I decided to take a literal leap of faith. I turned so my side faced the appendage, raised my shield and jumped, going into the cannonball position.

The grimm hit with the force of a moving train. I would know. I've jumped onto one.

I felt my arm go numb, but stayed tucked in as I sailed through the air. I opened my eyes to see that it'd not only sent me forward, but upwards a great deal. I stowed my shield and straitened my body out. Above, I heard some loud cawing, followed by a red blur smashing into me.

The next thing I knew, I was in a tree above the temple, Blake, Yang and two others staring at us. I was also hanging upside down from a vine.

"Hey guys, sorry to drop in unannounced." I said dryly.

Without warning, someone cut me down and I fell on the forest floor again. "Sorry!" I heard Ruby say.

"If I get concussed out here, I will be equal parts angry and dizzy." I commented. I got up and stalked over to the temple floor where a bunch of chess pieces sat. I grabbed the white one that looks like a castle before I turned to see the deathstalker chase Pyrrha into the clearing.

I ran to help my partner, but was interrupted by a large white mass crushing me.

"My hero." I heard Weiss comment from above me. She stood and left em to lay on the ground. "And that's how he died, inadvertently saving a _Schnee_ , no less." I remarked with a pained groan.

By the time I got up, and I could've sworn I was only down for a few seconds, everyone had regrouped at the temple looking no worse for wear and the deathstalker was frozen by it's tail.

"We have the relics, let's just get out of here while we can." I heard Ruby suggest.

"She's right. There's no reason to fight these things." Did Weiss just agree with Ruby or is my mental state finally entering the slow, painful spiral into dementia and ultimately death?

Nevertheless, we gathered ourselves and took off towards our next objective: The Cliffs.

* * *

 **Review and check out my other stories!**

 **-Fireballmonkey**


	6. Chapter 6: A History Lesson

**Approximately 100 Kilometers South of Vorkuta**

On the train, I'd gathered my meager possessions and weapons into a canvas bag I'd fished out of the cargo. I fixed an old canvas tarp into a poncho by cutting a hole in the middle for my head to go through. Under that, I had an old, blue jacket over my prison clothes.

After sleeping for what felt like the first time in years, I woke up to the train's whistle and looked outside to see it was coming to a stop.

The village we stopped in was made of rough, clay-brick buildings that looked like they'd survived a war. I later learned that they had.

* * *

You see, Remnant's second smallest continent, Dreki, is located between western Mantle and midwestern Samus. The skies surrounding it are almost always assaulted by storms, oppressive heat, flocks of airborne Grimm, or artillery shellings, making air travel next to impossible. It's people were mostly separated village by village due to the diverse, harsh geography of the continent. However, certain powers rose in the southeastern jungles, western mountains, and, most importantly, the cold, frozen hell that was the northern half of the continent. Due to the disorganization of the people and the geographical isolation, the Drekians evolved without the cultures of Mistral, the technology of Mantle, the resources of Vacuo or the comforts of Vale.

No, they had it worse than most. The northern tribes first organized about a century before the great war. Not much is known about that time, and most people would deny certain... events, but just bare with me.

These northerners were used to living only for survival. But soon enough, they started forming larger settlements. Relatively quickly, the "kingdom" of Russia was born. As it's citizens lived on and grew, they became more adventurous. Russia's Czar, or king, ordered several expeditions to the south to try and unite the whole area. By force. However, the southern tribes and settlers would have none of it.

The occupants of the jungles had quickly learned to use the land against their enemies, fighting with traps, ambushes, stealth, and Guerrilla Warfare. The Russian soldiers were not used to the humid, oppressive heat, nor the terrain. This made it easy for them to mistake a tripwire for an old vine, or a trigger stick for a rotten tree. As whole squads marched themselves into pits full of bamboo stakes, the inhabitants of what would soon become the People's Republic of Vietnam picked them off with spears, bows, and even improvised explosives and pyrotechnics as they found ways to utilize the sparse pockets of Dust in their region.

While the didn't take too kindly to Russia's attempted annexation, they were open to learning from them. They started forming organized government, social services, fortified towns and homes. It wasn't pristine or clean like Mantle or the other kingdoms, but it was theirs.

Speaking of Mantle, the Russian Czar saw the overwhelming resistance from the south and quickly pulled his warriors out, lest he have to admit his decision was wrong. Abandoning his plans for southern Dreki, for now anyway, he set his sights on the land across the water.

He began establishing parties to try and make the voyage across the northeastern seas to a land similar in both climate and topography. After almost a decade of finding a way across the ocean and up Mantle's sheer but Grimm-resistant cliffs, they finally came in contact with the somewhat young kingdom. Instantly impressed with the kingdom's own use of Dust and technology, the Czar scrambled to set up trade and relationships with Mantle's government.

In exchange for being taught Mantle's methods for Dust, guns and automated transport, Russia brought things like food, furs, and even Dust of their own to trade. The Vietnamese picked up on this, too.

While Russia and Mantle were brushing elbows, they tried to appeal to Vale and Vacuo. No one knows why, but the king of Vale greeted the people with open arms. But as deals and alliances were being struck, the People's Republic quickly realized they didn't have much to trade. Their culture had been a bit stagnated during the conflicts with Russia, as did progress.

Though they would never show it, the Vietnamese people feared another onslaught from Russia and their new toys from Mantle.

So, when you want one of the biggest kids on the playground to help you out of a jam, you give 'em compensation. And if you don't have anything to give, you steal.

The small nation quickly and miraculously started strengthening their military, pushing rules of discipline and loyalty above anything else while also incorporating their old values of fighting. They certainly didn't have the muscle to stand up to Russia, but they were much lighter on their feet. That's how the Con rồng đỏ, or Crimson Dragon unit, was formed.

This battalion took the fastest, strongest, most skilled fighters from all over the region and trained them like super soldiers. Let me tell you, from what I've heard, these guys would make Atlesian specialists look like the friggin' girl scouts. The ones who survived the harsh training regiments of the Crimson Dragons were marked by a special brand and given a weapon that would become feared by all: The Cochin Saber. These swords were made from the strongest metal alloys in the country, forged in pure fire Dust and tipped with deadly poisons, one drop of which could kill a Goliath in ten seconds flat.

The unit was soon sent out on raiding missions, attacking Russia's southernmost settlements, killing anything that got in their way and stealing whatever Tech and Intelligence they could get their hands on. As they gathered these resources, they were able to both keep trade with Vale open and advance their own technologies for years. Yep, Dreki's industrialization was finally coming underway.

And, finally, we have the western tribes. These nomads mainly stuck to their peaceful way of life in the mountains, keeping in contact with each other through messengers that would run great distances through the cliffs and plateaus. These messengers and couriers were the lifeblood of these communities, but one day, everything went to shit.

There were five main tribes in the mountain range, and they got along with each other fairly well, fighting off the occasional Grimm attacks and settling skirmishes as calmly as possible. That is, until one tribe accused the other of murdering one of their couriers, a young man named Sayyid Ahmed. The young leader of the accusing tribe, one who prided himself on being a fearsome warrior, was particularly vehement on the idea of retaliation. He made Ahmed out as a martyr and a symbol of betrayal. His words sparked anger in the hearts of his tribesmen and war quickly started. Soon, all five tribes were at each other's throats. Each tribe had their own ways of combat and fighting, each as bloody as the next. Within a few years, scores of women were left without husbands and children without fathers.

One chieftain's eyes were opened when his own son died in battle. Not wanting anymore bloodshed, but knowing that backing out of this war would paint a target on his tribe's back, he called all the chieftains into the valley below the mountains for a parlay. All but one attended, and they agreed that this pointless war would accomplish nothing.

That just left the last and arguably strongest tribe. They were soon known as the Ahmedis, after the Courier who was first killed. The Ahmedi chief, who was said to have sat on a throne of skulls and used an ax made of his own father's bones, wanted nothing more than for the bloodshed to continue. But things never go the way you plan.

Over the course of their war, the tribesmen had noticed that Grimm activity was at an all time high. And now that four of five groups had reunited, the creatures turned mainly to the crowd with the most bloodlust.

The Ahmedis, on a rather anticlimactic note, soon perished as more and more Grimm assaulted while the chief laughed madly and hacked away at as many as he could get his hands on. He'd driven his own people into the dirt with nothing to show for his reign but some burned husks and old, eroded bones.

As the Vietnamese continued their growth, they reached out to the remaining tribesmen, now united under one banner, to barter and communicate. While the mountaineers were wary of the newcomers, they were also eager at the mention of new weapons to be shared. Once the Grimm did away with the Ahmedis, they didn't just fuck off and go hibernate. Whether the tribesmen liked it or not, they needed all the help they could get.

* * *

 **I'm sorry this is so late, but school's been kicking my ass lately.**

 **So, here you are with the history of Dreki(part 1). If you hadn't guessed already, Dreki is the continent in Remnant that looks like a dragon. _Dreki_ is Icelandic for dragon. I've recently been studying the cold war for school and some of it inspired me. In the interest of foreshadowing, Russia will soon become the Soviet Union, Vietnam will become divided, and the mountain people will come to be known as the Mujahideen. (You'll know what I'm talking about if you've played the campaign for COD Black Ops 1 and 2).**

 **Part 2 of this World of Remnant-esque stuff will come either in the next chapter or after, we'll have to wait and see.**

 **In the mean time, review and check out my other stories,**

 **Goodbye!**

 **-Fireballmonkey**


	7. Chapter 7: Confessions

**Beacon Academy**

 **Ozpin's Office**

I sat at my desk, finishing the last of my paperwork while refilling my coffee. Glynda, on the other hand, seemed quite irritated at my latest choice of team selections. She wouldn't stop pacing in front of my desk.

"I just can't fathom your reasoning for assigning Mr. Arc as a team leader. We have no idea what kind of pressure that can put on his already questionable psych. Surely Ms. Nikos or, hell, even Mr. Ren would have better success!"

It was a rare occasion to hear my friend curse. She stopped her pacing for a moment and pinched the bridge of her nose, then moved her glasses up to rub her tired eyes. I gave her my best reassuring smile. "Now Glynda, surely you have more faith in the boy than that." She sighed.

"It's not a question of faith. But we have _no_ idea what's going around that boy's head and he hasn't exactly been very open about that issue, even with you or Qrow."

I set my mug down and steepled my fingers. "Jaune's been having problems, no one can refute that. But my hope is that, through the support of his friends and team, he'll be able to find some semblance of normalcy and routine. Who knows, he may end up as great a leader as yours truly." I said humorously. Glynda crossed her arms, "Or like Summer."

I turned in my chair to look out over my school and the city of Vale in the distance. The smile was gone now. I stared off into the night sky and thought of our late friend. As much as I hated to admit it, her words rang somewhat true. When Qrow found Jaune, he was broken, tortured, scarred. We all had doubts about his story or if he'd ever recover. Now, with both James and the CIA breathing down my neck, I could only hope he'd be able to deal with all these changes to his life, realistically speaking. And the dangers they'd bring.

Being a huntsman wasn't exactly winning any safety awards anytime soon. Despite all that, I had no doubt that things would turn out fine for the boy. At this moment, he was probably getting to know his team in their new dorm.

That's when the elevator went off. We turned to see two arms force the doors apart, revealing a rather agitated-looking Jaune Arc.

"WHAT THE SHIT, OZPIN!?"

I stand corrected.

* * *

After a lengthy conversation with Ozpin while Glynda used her semblance to keep me from strangling him, I'd gone back to my dorm and collapsed into bed. The nutty professor gave me another vague and controverted excuse about how this would "be good for me". I hated that man, yet he'd saved my life.

Now, I was stuck being the leader of a world renowned fighter, a ninja, and a ginger with the strength of Mogar. I wonder if she used to be a man.

Speaking of men, I'll need to see Kreiger about getting more Grimm-effective bullets. Going up against that Deathstalker was like shooting a Mi-24 Hind with a BB gun. If only I had the minigun from Vorkuta. Or any minigun, for that matter.

I let out a long groan into my pillow.

I heard someone, probably Nora, jumping on a bed next to mine. I heard Pyrrha ask, "What's wrong, Jaune?" I turned my head so my voice wasn't suppressed by the pillow.

"I'm having a stressful evening."

"How come, Leader?" Nora asked as she landed in a seated position on her bed. I sat up and took off my shoes, then the ankle holster on my leg. "I just had a personal issue that needed clearing up. Nothing to worry about." I took the .25 caliber pistol out, unloaded the magazine, popped the round in the chamber, caught it, replaced the bullet into the magazine, then put the gun and holster into the drawer of the nightstand next to my bed.

I hadn't had to use it, it probably wouldn't have done much good against those monsters anyway.

I checked the clock on the wall above the bathroom door. It wasn't that late. Now what the fuck do I do?

As if reading my mind, Nora asked, "What do we do now, fearless leader?" I decided to take the honest approach, while sighing, "Fuck if I know. The only thing I've ever led was a prison break."

That statement left even the ginger in silence. Carefully, Pyrrha asked, "Jaune, what do you mean by that?" I sat on the edge of my bed to face them.

"Alright, full disclosure? None of what I'm about to tell you can leave this room. I shouldn't even be telling you this, but we're now a team, and trust should be a two way street, right?" They nodded, listening attentively. I began my story.

"I'm originally from the capitol of Mistral. I never knew my parents since they dumped me in an orphanage at the age of three. I went in and out of foster homes for a good decade before I got out of the system and just drifted through the streets. As you can imagine, there aren't many ways for a street kid like yours truly to make money, so I did what I had to do. I'm not proud of it nor will I be sharing the details anytime soon.

"I went to juvenile hall two, three, maybe six times before I was fifteen. If you think I'd hit rock bottom there, just hold your horses." I saw Ren and Nora exchange a look. Pyrrha was also growing concerned.

"After an unsuccessful afternoon of pickpocketing, I was brought to the police station, only to see a new face amongst the boys in blue. A dirty cop named Castro had somehow been transferred to my local precinct. I'm not sure why he chose me, but he came into my holding cell that very night and knocked me out cold. When I woke up, I was being held in a shipping container on a cargo ship."

"How did he get you out of a Mistrali police station and onto a cargo ship?" Ren asked.

"I'm not sure. Like I said, I was...unconscious..." I trailed off as a blinking red light caught my attention from a bookshelf on the far wall. I got up and went over, moving around the scarce books before finding the culprit. It was a small, black, wireless microphone. The red light displayed that it was currently recording any noise within the room.

"Motherfucker." I muttered.

"What's wrong, Jaune?" Pyrrha asked. I crushed the small mic before heading into the bathroom, tossing the audio equipment to my team. "We've been bugged." I stopped in the bathroom doorway and motioned for them to join me. Hesitantly, they came in and took seats where they could find them. I closed the door and sat on the rim of the bathtub.

"So, why are we in here?" Nora questioned. "Our room's been bugged. Someone, probably the CIA, wants to keep tabs on me. To reiterate, do not repeat anything you hear right now, got it?" More nods.

"Good. I doubt Ozpin would let them put anything in here, if he even knew about it. So we should be able to talk freely. Now where was I?"

"Cargo ship." Ren answered. "Right. So, I was on that ship for at least two days. No one came to check on me or give me food. I had to do my business in a bucket. Once the ship docked, It was snowing outside. At first I thought I was in Atlas, but I was actually in Russia."

"Wait, as in Russia, the kingdom that's completely closed off from all other continents and has had minimal contact with the other four kingdoms since the Great War?"

"The very same. Anyway, from there, I was beaten and dragged to a train yard. Then I was brought to a prison. Vorkuta." Nora raised her hand, "What was it like?"

I looked her in the eyes. "It was hell. We were tormented every day and treated like _vermin_."

Standing from the edge of the tub, I clapped my hands together. "I'd say that's about enough for tonight, yeah?"

Nora jumped up and shouted, "Wait! You can't just end there! We need to know how you got back!" Ren put a hand on her shoulder. "Easy, Nora. We shouldn't rush Jaune on something this personal. Besides, you need to go to bed."

"Aww." He took her out and it was just me and Pyrrha. She shifted uncomfortably.

"There something you want to ask?"

"It's just...after hearing all that, it's hard to picture just how you survived, Jaune."

"I didn't go through it alone. I made friends on the inside. You usually die if you don't." I told her. "When...when we broke out, not a lot of us made it. Most of the other inmates, I never saw again."

I rubbed the bridge of my nose. I was tired. I went to grab some sweatpants from the wardrobe and changed in the bathroom, stripping off the dirty hoodie, jeans and T-shirt. I kept my black spriefs on since they let my nethers breathe. I stumbled in the dark room to my bed with a yawn. Hopefully, tomorrow won't be so dramatic.

* * *

Tomorrow was _much_ more dramatic. Mine and Ruby's teams were almost late to our first class, then she and Weiss got into some pissing match in the hallway and she stormed off. And now, I'm looking into Ruby's kicked puppy face as she asks me if Ozpin should or shouldn't've made her a leader. Why did she have to be so damn adorable?

I rubbed the bridge of my nose. "Look, Ruby, I've known the Professor for a while. If he made you leader, he knew what he was doing." She didn't look convinced.

"Alright, tell me, what do you think a good leader should do?" She thought on that for a moment. "Make sure their team is happy and is able to work together?"

"Good. Do that. But also remember that you're gonna have to make some tough choices along the way. Schnee shouldn't expect you to be whatever her version of a perfect leader is. You've never been a leader before and she hasn't told you her version. All she's done is bitch and moan some. Ozpin made you leader, so you'll both have to deal with it and...hug, or whatever it is girls do. Got it?"

She nodded and smiled. "Thanks, Jaune." She started to walk off, but then stopped. "Wait, how have you known Headmaster Ozpin so long?"

"That's another story for another day, Red." She looked crestfallen, I felt a bit awkward. "We should probably get to the next class." I patted her on the head.

Later that afternoon, after I fully experienced the formal education system that Vale had to offer, I wanted to get as far away as possible. Why did no one tell me how boring this shit was?! It was like prison all over again! That shit was psychological torture all by itself. How do kids put up with this for years?

I needed a serious purge of any thoughts of school. If my hears on the streets were telling the truth, I knew just the place.

* * *

 **There we go, another chapter. We'll see how Jaune adjusts to school life. As always, review and read some of my other stories.**

 **-Fireballmonkey**


	8. Chapter 8: In The Club

I walked along the street, this neighborhood bordered Vale's red-light district. Despite the shadiness of the area, the club was a pretty nice place. People lined up as the sun went down dressed for a night of dancing, drinking, and some drunk, semi-consensual sex. I went around the line and walked up to the bouncer. He looked at my barely-eighteen year old self over his sunglasses.

I hoped my Vietnamese wasn't too rusty. " _Tôi tìm Hei Xiong._ " He looked a bit surprised before fumbling with the velvet rope and letting me through, despite the complaints from the people in the lines.

I adjusted the sleeves of my black dress shirt, along with the blue tie I wore. Once I entered the club, I was assaulted with loud EDM music and louder colors from the strobe lights they had on. I took a seat at the bar and waved the barktender over, asking for top shelf Vytalian brandy. The man had dark skin and a ponytail. He nodded and left the bar, going up glass steps that were built into the wall. They led up to an office that had a wall entirely made of glass, so the boss could see over the whole dance floor.

Classy.

A few minutes later, two girls dressed in red and white took seats close by, followed by Hei Xiong himself. I could see the resemblance to his older brother right away. The man was huge, with a thick but short beard and a gruff voice. "You ordered?"

"I did." I said over the music. I reached into my pocket and laid down a flat, circular stone on a braided cord made of bamboo fibers. The stone had a single insignia: A crescent moon. "But we should speak somewhere private." The man's eyes widened before he looked around and gestured for me to follow. The two girls, twins by the look of it, looked very surprised that the boss was welcoming me to his office. "Ladies."

The look on their faces was pretty funny.

Junior, as he went by around here, led me to his office and sat in a plush couch, pouring himself a drink from a decanter. He poured one for myself after. He studied my face, trying to see why I was here and why I had that amulet. I gave him nothing to pick up on.

"So, you're the one Ho told me about. I honestly thought he was dead before he called and told me that, not only had he escaped from a Russian prison, but some Mistrali kid had helped him, met up with him in our home country, and then assisted the _Con rồng_ -frigin'- _đỏ_ in fighting Russian forces while working with the CIA. I thought he'd lost it in, what was it called, Vorkuta? I was even more surprised when he spoke fluent Vytalian."

I nodded, "It was quite the trip. Nam' is a beautiful country, by the way. I can see why he didn't leave. Well, other than the fact that he was in prison. Your brother is a fast language learner."

Junior stood and offered his hand to me. We shook like old friends and had a few more drinks. After, he called the barkeeper and the twins from earlier. He introduced them as Sam Cortez and Miltiades and Melanie Malachite, respectively. They were his most trusted associates here in Vale, and he treated them as family, just as he told them that I was to be treated. They all seemed pretty reluctant, but Sam at least gave me some respect. The twins just lifted their noses and left with a "What. Ever."

I watched them leave and turned to the bartender. "They always like that?"

"Yes." He said in a gruff voice. He went back down to the bar. I checked my watch, It wasn't too late, but I had to get back and get started on...schoolwork. I shivered in disgust. I bid Junior a fair well a two drinks later and walked back down past the bar. I averted my eyes from the light, getting some serious flashbacks to those times I went snow blind in Russia.

However, I saw something rather disconcerting. The white twin, Melanie, was being dragged off by two unsavory individuals. One grabbed her legs while the other pinned her arms to her sides with one of his own and used the other to cover her mouth.

I followed them from a distance until they exited via a custodial hallway and entered a storage closet. I didn't need a secondary school education to know what was about to go down.

I checked my _M_ _akarov_ that was tucked in my waistband. It was fully loaded. I had another magazine in my pocket, along with a butterfly knife. A closet in a club this size would need to have, at minimum, 120 square feet of floor space. Factoring in all the equipment and cleaning supplies, plus the shelves for storing them and whatnot, the three occupants would have about 60 square feet. Not a lot of room for hand-to-hand, so unless they used the girl as a meat-shield, along with the music masking any sound from the .25, I should encounter minimal resistance.

Okay, showtime.

I kicked the door open, despite it not having a lock. I saw Melanie on the floor, still being restrained , but with the first guy knelt between her legs and reaching up her skirt. I shot him in the foot. He fell back and clutched the foot with his hands. I then shot him in the knee of his other leg. The one restraining Melanie backed up and put his hands up, and I put my gun away.

He was saying something, but I couldn't really hear him. I was just tuning him out as I grabbed my knife and flipped it open. The next few minutes were sort of...hazy. Yeah, let's go with that.

Once I'd finished, the two men were dead and Melanie was safe. A bit mentally scarred, perhaps, but still. I also felt a bit sticky. I guess I'd hit an artery and some blood spurted on my face. I stared down at the thug's mangled face as I heard Junior and Sam come in. I turned to them and wiped my brow.

"I'm... uh, I might need to wash up a bit."

* * *

 **Approximately 120 Kilometers From Vorkuta...**

After sneaking around the rail yard all night, I'd found what passed for a bar in these parts. I was in a town called _Baikleite_ , somewhere in the southern regions of this frozen hell hole. After getting shit-drunk on vodka and stale peanuts, I managed to pass out somewhere that wouldn't freeze me to death: The outhouse.

Luckily, the cold blocked out most of the smell. And, as gross as it sounds, the... contents of it kept the place warmish. I kept my pistol close and shut my eyes. It was the best sleep I'd had in a year.

When I emerged in the morning, I rolled around in the snow to try and get the smell off. I shouldered my bag and made my back to the train yard. There, I managed to secure a ride in the back of a lumber truck in exchange for a hand grenade and half a bottle of vodka. Seven hours later, I was in warmer country. Some backwoods area near the border, lightly wooded and alight with the midday sun. I shed my canvas poncho and said a quick _proshchay_ to the driver. I walked a good three meters down the road when something grazed my hair, shooting past me and penetrating the truck's windshield, then the driver's chest.

I dropped flat to the ground, my head sideways and scanning the area, trying to see the shooter. Another shot flew straight over my head and popped one of the front tires. I never saw a muzzle flash or heard a shot.

That meant this sniper was not only accurate, but highly skilled/equipped and probably well hidden. I needed to make my way to the back of the truck.

Managing to turn my head, I saw that the road had one of those flood ditches on each side. In a split second, I pushed my bag into the ditch and rolled with it, landing on my back. After several minutes of awkward twisting around one spot, I turned myself around so that I could crawl towards the truck. I heard another shot punch into the dirt above the ditch.

I stayed as low as possible and hurried forward. Once close enough, I tied some cloth around my bag and held on to it while I scrambled out of the trench and behind the vehicle. Careful to stay in cover, I pulled on the cloth and dragged my bag of weapons out.

Once I had my AK-47 ready, I took some potshots in the sniper's direction. "Not dead yet fucker!" I yelled. Another bullet carved its way into the truck's roof. I kept the rifle on semi-automatic and shot back. So, now we were in a stalemate. Maybe if I could get to the driver's seat and get out of here-

 _BANG_

And now the engine was shot.

Okay, new plan. I opened the tailgate and broke off one of the hinges. While laying in the back of the truck for most of the ride, I'd noticed a small emergency kit wedged in near the chassis. I reached in and grabbed it. Tearing it open, I found some road flares, a small signal mirror and a small container of axel grease.

I put all but the flares into my bag, then started assembling. Despite the name, axel grease was actually pretty sticky. You could cover a sock filled with dynamite with the stuff and make a sticky-bomb, according to Ho Xiong.

I used it to attach the mirror to the end of the tailgate wire. I poked the mirror around the truck's side to get a bead on the sniper. I saw a flash near a large patch of reeds, right before the mirror shattered into pieces. Something told me I was gonna be here a while.

I called out again, "I know where you are, pal! Why don't you just make this easy on both of us?!"

Another bullet zipped over my head.

"Fine! Be that way!" I sat down while leaning against one of the back tires. I checked my munitions. I had three extra magazines for the AK, two grenades for the launcher. One teargas grenade, one frag, a couple dozen shotgun shells, four pistol magazines.

Not the best arsenal, but it was enough for now. I loaded everything up and kept it in the truck bed. Taking my rifle, I dove into the roadside ditch on the other side, but a bullet caught me in the foot. White hot pain shot up my leg. Hissing through my teeth, I rolled onto my back and fired a grenade at their hiding place. This time, I heard cursing. Except that it was in vietnamese and the voice was female.

This wasn't good. I had an extra mag on me, but all my ordinance was in the truck.

PLUS I HAD A GODDAMN FRICKINSHITTING HOLE IN MY FOOT!

Also, it was getting late in the day. It wasn't very cold in this region, and with all the gunfire, Grimm were bound to hear it. I suppose it'd be better to get shot than eaten alive by those monsters. This was the worst situation in the history of situations. Maybe ever!

I used my prison knife to cut a strip of cloth from my shirt and started wrapping my foot. Once the bleeding let up, I saw that the bullet hadn't punctured my foot, but blown a small chunk off the side of it. It still hurt like a bitch. I cut two more strips and put my shoe back on, then stuffed one strip inside and wrapped the other strip around the outside of the shoe. Now I could only pray that I didn't contract sepsis.

To make matters worse, I could here something clomping through the grass to my right. It let out low growls as its pace quickened. The large black form of an Ursa leapt over my trench and skidded over the dirt road.

It sloppily spun around and glowered at me. Its red eyes kept me frozen in my place. My fingers wrapped around my rifle's grip and I leveled the gun. My thumb inched to the fire rate switch and turned the gun to automatic. I could see the Ursa's leg muscles coil beneath the skin as it made to pounce.

Before it could make its move, three shots rang out, punching into the beast's hide. I stared at the creature as it toppled over and its form dissolved into smoke.

Relief swept through me as I let my head down on the ground. I stared at the darkening sky while I heard footsteps approach from the sniper's direction. She was probably coming to finish me off. I rose to a sitting position and raised my AK, but it was knocked out of my hands and I was kicked in the chest. It knocked the wind out of me, and I coughed and tried to get air back in my lungs. I saw my attacker walk calmly until she stood over me. I couldn't make out many details of her.

She was dressed in camouflage clothing under some kind of coat that had pieces of foliage attached to it; a ghillie suit sniper. She poked me with the barrel of her rifle, then her gaze seemed to fix on my abdomen. Once she was done, she brought the butt of her gun down on my head.

* * *

The situation was taken care of tactfully. Miltia had brought her sister upstairs where the two had an apartment built into the club, just as Junior had one attached to his office. That might've been for the best. I was pretty dirty. After wiping myself off with a cleaning rag, I helped Sam dispose of the bodies and clean up the blood. There was a lot more than I thought.

Pyrrha texted me at some point and I told her I was helping a friend move. Add "a body" to that statement and it'd be 100% truthful! Anyway, Junior told me that I could use the shower in the bathroom above the club.

What he failed to inform me on, was that it was right down the hall from the twins' rooms. So, when I got out and dried myself off, I started redressing myself in my clothes that sat folded on the counter. He must've had someone thoroughly wash them while I was in. I'd just started buttoning up my shirt when the door creaked open. Melanie came in wearing a white bathrobe over some kind of nightgown.

"Oh, hey..." I said, not at all awkwardly.

"Hi." She said.

Once the silence grew über uncomfortable, she spoke again. "I wanted to thank you, for... helping me downstairs."

I continued getting dressed, "It's no trouble, except maybe for those two guys. Does that kind of stuff happen a lot?"

She shook her head, "We get the occasional drunk who tries to cop a feel, but Miltia and I can usually handle it. Those guys just got the jump on me."

"Right."

"What, you don't think I could've handled it?"

I shrugged. "Taking on more than one opponent is never easy. They seemed to know what they were doing, dragging you into the closet like that-"

"Look, as much as I'm loving this trip down Memory Lane, I just wanted to say thank you." She interrupted. I finished getting dressed and headed to the door. She backed out and we both moved to the hallway. We stood there for a few moments. That's when we both kissed. Melanie put one hand on my chest and the other arm draped over my shoulder. I cupped the back of her head and rested the other hand on her waist.

We stayed like that for a few seconds before we made our way to her bedroom. I kicked her door closed and prepared for the start of a wonderful night.

* * *

 **Alright, new chapter's done!**

 **Jaune's journey through Dreki is getting more interesting, it seems.**

 **BTW, in the next chapter it'll probably be like 40% smut between Jaune and Melanie. It'll be my first time writing(re: publishing) a lemon, so we'll see how it goes. Leave reviews and tell me what you think so far.**

 **P.S. - Also, look out as future chapters progressively get longer. Thinking of matching the length of my RWBY/Skyrim story.**

 **-Fireballmonkey**


	9. Chapter 9: Alive and Kicking

They both tumbled onto the bed haphazardly, Jaune's hands untying her robe and running up her sides. She let out a hot breath as he moved down to her thighs and ass. Melanie ground her hips against his pelvis as their tongues danced with each other. She unbuttoned his shirt and ran her nails over his toned chest and stomach.

Jaune helped take her robe off and placed his hands on her back. Melanie did the same with his shirt and let her eyes wander over the tattoos on the left side of his chest. One seemed to be an orange sun with black inscriptions in another language. Another one had more words down the right side of his abdomen.

The young man brought his face to her neck and kissed the area roughly, sometimes biting it as she moaned out his name. He slid his hands slowly up her thighs and sides under the thin blue nightgown. Melanie put her hands on his shoulders and deepened their kiss. Jaune's hands made their way to her breasts as he kneaded them. Their bodies grew hot quickly and Melanie moved a bit so Jaune could remove his pants. After that, Melanie got up on her knees and took off her gown, revealing her body to him. He stared at her figure and she noticed the admittedly big bulge in his undergarments and smirked.

The girl found herself on her back as Jaune planted kisses all the way down her body until his face was between her legs.

Melanie gasped as he licked along her opening and used his fingers to part her folds. She quickly wrapped a leg around Jaune's head to keep it in place as her hands went to her breasts. His tongue explored her womanhood and her body grew _very_ hot. He moved faster, paying special attention to her clit as he inserted a finger below it. She gripped the covers as she felt her thighs clench, her moans turning into screams as she rode out her orgasm, Jaune's tongue never stopping it's movements.

She caught her breath as Jaune finished and crawled back onto the bed and kissed her passionately. "Ready for more?" He asked. She grinned, "Oh yeah."

They moved to the top of the bed and Jaune tore the covers off before falling back and taking Melanie with him. She laughed a bit as she fell on him. They kissed once more, their tongues swirling against one another.

Melanie hooked her fingers on the waistband of his underwear and pulled down, letting his member pop out. She grabbed it in her hand and squeezed, causing Jaune to grunt a bit. He attacked her neck again and bit down lightly while cupping her bare breasts. She ground her naked womanhood against his hard-on and lifted herself up on her knees again. Jaune moved from her neck and looked into her green eyes. She understood what he was looking for and kissed him again before bringing herself down on Jaune's member. They let out loud moans as Melanie rode him. Jaune brought his mouth to her chest and continued his ministrations, sucking and licking her cleavage.

His right hand strayed up to her head, gently running through her obsidian hair and lightly pulling it. Melanie called out his name again as they both picked up the pace. Jaune bit down on her left nipple and squeezed the right one with his hand, pinching it. Melanie threw her head back in sheer pleasure as she quickened her pace. "Ah~, J-Jaune! Fuck!"

To her surprise, Jaune brought her close to him and rolled over so he was on top. Melanie was almost always the one on top, but the pleasure was so intense as Jaune went in and out, hitting her walls in all the right places.

"Harder! Fuck me harder!" She'd never yelled that during the act. Neither had she found herself with her eyes rolling up and her tongue lolled out of her mouth. Some of her arousal leaked out as the two got closer. They could both feel the climax nearing.

"Mel, I'm almost there!"

"Me too!"

Melanie wrapped her legs around Jaune as he kept at it. He was going faster and faster until his eyes closed tightly and he released his seed into her. Melanie let out another loud moan as she felt her insides clench up. She held onto Jaune and rode out her climax and he slowly pumped the last drops into her. Her own juices leaked out some more onto the sheets.

Slowly, Jaune pulled out and lowered himself onto his back next to Melanie as she recovered from the intense climax. She laid her head on his shoulder. He snaked his arm under her body and pulled her so she was flush with his.

"Wow." He said, ever the wordsmith. She just hummed in agreement as she shifted into a more comfortable position. Within a few moments, she was asleep, Jaune following after.

* * *

When I woke up, there was a weight on my right shoulder and someone's scroll was buzzing. I tried to lift my head, remembering what had happened last night. Melanie was still sleeping, half on top of me. As my scroll kept buzzing, I saw her eyes flutter and she stirred.

I let my head flop onto my pillow. She propped herself up with an elbow and blinked groggily. "Morning." I muttered. She grunted tiredly and rested back on top of me. After a few more minutes, I slowly slid out form under her and grabbed my pants. I went out to the twins' living room and found the corner that contained a mini kitchen. I filled up two glasses of water at the sink as I saw Melanie come into the light.

She walked over in her robe wordlessly and downed the water just as I did. She took a seat at the counter and laid her head down. I felt my scroll buzz again. Picking it up, I saw that I had twenty texts and ten calls that I'd missed.

"Shit," I cursed. Melanie looked at me. "I, uh, I gotta go." I went to retrieve my clothes and got them on as quickly as possible.

I was buttoning up my shirt as I reached the door when Melanie put a hand on my shoulder. I turned around as she gave me another kiss. A long one, too. We stood in the doorway until we ran out of breath and said quick goodbyes. I had to hurry to catch the next ride to Beacon.

* * *

Once I made it back to Beacon and to my dorm, I was assaulted by what I like to call 'Sensory Rape'. I was still a bit hungover, the lights were blaring and my teams questions were _not_ helping.

"Jaune! Where were you?! We were so worried!" Nora yelled as soon as I came through the door. I yelled in pain in surprise and clutched my head. "IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS HOLY IN THE WORLD CAN YOU STOP HATE-FUCKING MY EARDRUMS?!"

That made them all go quiet. I put my hands on her shoulders as gently as I could and hissed out, " _Now. Ask questions one at a time. And do so. Quietly. Understand?_ "

She nodded, a bit stunned. Pyrrha put a hand on my arm. "Jaune, where were you all night?"

"Did I not text you last night?" I asked as I calmed down and sat on the edge of my bed. "You just gave a vague answer saying you were helping a friend move." Ren said. I leaned back and smirked.

"Well, I _was_ with a friend. And things. Were. Moving."

Their eyes widened. Pyrrha turned a shade as red as her hair, Nora was, for once, speechless, and Ren just shook his head and face-palmed. I clapped my hands together. "Now that we've caught up, I need a shower."

He got up and headed to the bathroom, so he could dodge any more questions and to actually shower. He was fairly... sticky.

* * *

 **A Few Days Later...**

 **Let's say a week or something.**

After another week of classes and a Saturday night spent with Melanie, I was getting into the swing of things. My schoolwork was in on time, my team was doing well in combat training _and_ academics, and I hadn't had a single hallucination or metal breakdown. So far, so good.

Mel and I had agreed to keep what we did casual. She wasn't looking for something serious and lord knows I wouldn't be able to hold a steady relationship down.

So, we'd all sat down at lunch and Nora recounted a dream she'd had about selling Ursa pelts. I rested my forehead to the desk and tried to tune out her rambling. They were great friends, but they sometimes talked too much. "God, I miss cocaine." I muttered.

"What was that Jaune?" Pyrrha asked.

"I said Nora's dream sounds insane." I replied quickly. We all turned around to see Cardin Winchester, the human equivalent of gas station sushi, and his team pulling on a rabbit faunus girl's ears. She finally freed herself from his grip and walked out of the cafeteria, hanging her head in shame.

"What a freak!" One of the idiots yelled.

"Atrocious! I can't stand people like him." Pyrrha stated.

"He's not the only one." Blake said. Yang rested her head on one of her hands. "It must be hard being a faunus." I sent a look toward Blake. "There's always gonna be idiots like them in the world. If you silence one voice, another starts shouting. They're no different than people who thought they were better than everyone if they were from a certain kingdom or had the same hair color or wiped their asses with the same kind of paper. You can't really do much, except try and prove them wrong. If their ignorance can't be broken, you either move on or use more than words." I said.

"Ooh! We'll break his legs!" Nora yelled as she stood up. I hummed for a moment. "Too quick. If you wanna really send a guy a message, you kidnap 'em, strip them down, get them tripped out on LSD and lock them in a barn."

"Isn't that how the CIA tried to control people's minds during the Great War?" Yang asked.

I shook my head, "Those were just rumors. Same could be said for when they supposedly got mental patients addicted to morphine and LSD for six months. All that crazy drug stuff was 'intentionally' leaked to divert attention to the real goals of Project MK Ultra, which was mind control through hypnosis and torture."

"Is that supposed to make it better?" Ren questioned.

I crossed my arms. "It's not supposed to make it anything."

"Did the CIA really drug and hypnotize people?" Ruby asked.

"Oh please. That's just the tip of a very dark and twisted iceberg, Little Red. If there's a hell, those creepy Dulles brothers are in it. Doing unspeakable things with bananas." I slowly sipped from my carton of milk.

"They can't be that bad if the agency operates in the interest of the Kingdoms." Weiss said. I looked at her flatly, " _Ring, Ring..."_ I picked up the imaginary phone. _"Hello, Watergate Hotel. What's that? Those 300 strapping young faunus you sent to capture Kuo Kuana Province didn't get their air support? Well, we'll have to send them a gift basket as compensation. What's that? Waterboarding and Arms Races? Of course, right away. Click._ " I hung up.

* * *

The next day, in combat class, Goodwitch informed the class that we'd be focussing on hand-to-hand today. Awesome. "First up is Jaune Arc vs. Cardin Winchester."

The good times keep on rolling.

I got into my combat wear, minus the armor. It was too bulky for a good, old fashioned ass beating. I stepped onto the arena floor and waited for Cardin. He chose to keep the heavy armor on. Whatever, makes it easier for me.

I calmly turned sideways and kept my left foot forward. Cardin took a boxer's stance. Typical. The good Professor counted down and the match started. I walked forward while Winchester ran towards me. He cocked his fist back to hit me, so I just sidestepped and let his momentum carry him past me. He stumbled and turned angrily toward me.

This kid was probably trained by some uptight teacher in Atlas, in a safe, monitored arena like this, with padded floors and aura gauges. Meanwhile, I was trained by ex-huntsmen, convicted military veterans, killers and criminals, CIA agents, members of the mossad, and by the deadliest military organization in Vietnam. I'll go ahead and say that the ball was in my court.

Unfortunately for Cardin, I was faster than him. So, I ran forward and swept his legs out from under him.

I'm not ashamed to admit I enjoyed this next part.

As he fell to the ground, I brought down my foot in an ax kick, listening to the air leave his lungs in a dull wheeze. As he struggled to find his breath again, I watched him pathetically try to stand back up. A lesson I'd learned in Vorkuta: When your opponent's bigger than you, he's usually slower. Attack quickly while you can and try to surprise them. Once he managed to get up on one knee, I grabbed the back of his head and pulled it down to meet my own knee. Three times I brought it down, then I dropped him back on the floor and waited to see of he'd get up.

I guess I didn't give him enough credit, because he managed back onto his feet. Well, I guess I forgot that he still had aura left, even if it was now just barely in the yellow. "Don't look so smug, Arc. You're just another freak who needs to learn his place!"

My eye twitched. "Freak..." I repeated. "That's what you call the faunus students here, isn't it? Because they're different, you think you can prey upon people." I strolled around him in an arc. "You see, Cardin, people like you, they aren't exactly the best kind of people. They think that because by dumb luck, they were born strong and tall or whatever, they can just step on anyone they like without any consequences. Would you like me to show you how the world _really_ works?"

I moved toward him and ducked under another fist before kicking the side of his knee. He cried out as he dropped to a kneeling position. I struck the back of his head and let him fall to the ground. Flipping him onto his back, I straddled his chest and pinned his arms down with my knees. I wrapped my hands around his throat and started to squeeze, thinking of how satisfying it'd be to watch the life drain from this cretin's eyes. He'd be more useful in a Russian Dust mine than here, dirtying the name of the people who sacrifice themselves to protect others.

The boy tried to struggle, but I used the base of my palm to hit him in the face, then again, and again and again. His face started to turn blue, and I worried he'd pass out. So, I let go.

I dusted myself and got up. I cold see it in his eyes. He was scared. He knew that if we weren't in a room full of people, I wouldn't stop. I smiled at him. He recovered his breathing enough to try and yield.

"I-I... I forfe-" He didn't finish as brought another ax kick down on his face.

* * *

 **Alright, here's is chapter... what is this, nine?**

 **Jaune's dark side's coming out, Cardin's nearly shat himself due to asphyxiation and the plot sorta thickens.**

 **Make sure to leave reviews and check out other stories... blah blah blah, self promotion, yada yada yada.**

 **-Fireballmonkey.**


	10. Author's Note

**Okay, so, I know its been a while and that's because I've been adjusting some things with Jaune's backstory. Nothing too major, though.**

 **To sum it up, he was fifteen when sent to Vorkuta, then spent 2-3 years doing stuff for the CIA. I also corrected some inaccuracies with** **the guns he has, but that's not that important. Also, the next chapter isn't gonna be all flashback. I know what I said, but shit's been difficult, writing wise.**

 **Stay tuned for more.**

 **-Fireballmonkey**


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